Posts Tagged ‘data’

As of this writing, over 5,000 people (myself included) have committed to deleting their facebook pages on the 31st of May, as part of a “Facebook Exodus” to take their private information into their own hands. Yesterday I submitted my request for deletion. After a 14 day incubation period, so long as I don’t log in, Facebook will delete the page. I’ve already donated money to Diaspora, a proposed open source social network, and look forward to joining it. Until that point I will be forced to go without knowing what all my friends are doing or which Miley Cyrus lyrics particularly inspire them. It’s going to be arduous.

There are temporary solutions. I’m routinely hanging a white board around my neck that can be adorned with things like “EATING A SANDWICH” for when I’m eating a sandwich. Or “Gonna read some Upton Sinclair and then get KRUNKKK” for when I’m passing a particularly classy starbucks. You can poke people on the subway and hand out fancy cordial invitations for people to join your ninja army. When you want people to see a video you can burn it to a DVD and then shuttle over to their house to watch it like your great-grandfather did when he wasn’t building the combustion engine and backhanding wenches (Yes, I know about that).

Essentially, we have to make sacrifices for our privacy. At first I thought losing Facebook would be one of those…but the more I thought about it the less I cared. Facebook had essentially become a gigantic tool to help me lose respect for friends as I see them slowly reveal details about themselves to the public. Seeing that Betty became a fan of public sanitation or that Greg has joined a group supporting Arizona’s new immigration law just makes my faith in humanity slowly plummet. Not only do I not care, but I don’t care nearly enough to willingly farm my data out to the first buyer.

It might be tough, but you have to ask yourself: what am I really missing out on and is it truly worth it? I would say no. Maybe you’ll have more time to read a book, stroll outside, or actually talk with people face to face. Maybe you’ll just spend that much more time on Twitter (*cough*).

People need control over their personal information. And you should be able to wait until you have that control.